The MagPi - February 2020

T

he Pi Hut’s custom-designed

Raspberry Pi 4 case comes in

sheet form, laser-cut from a

mixture of coloured and transparent

acrylic. Assembly is relatively

straightforward, though the plastic

mounting pillars and screws provided

can’t withstand repeated assembly and

disassembly, and there are no thermal

interface pads required.

Instead, cooling is provided by a single 5 V

cooling fan installed beneath vents in the

transparent lid. By default, this is set to suck air

out of the case and away; flipping it around to

blow offers a

minor improvement

in cooling performance at

the cost of a dramatic increase in noise.

There’s no software or speed control for

the fan, and it ties up the 5 V and GND pins on

the GPIO header – which is inaccessible once

assembled. The CSI and DSI headers are likewise

locked away, though cables for these can at least

be routed between the walls and the case lid.

The acrylic lid effectively insulates Raspberry

Pi 4, leaving the fan vent as the only place for

heat to escape.

Despite its fan, The Pi Hut case’s cooling

performance is the second-worst on test – behind

only the Raspberry Pi 4 Stand.

A wholly acrylic creation, The Pi Hut’s case relies on

a small always-on fan to keep Raspberry Pi 4 cool

The Pi Hut magpi.cc/pihutpi4case £10 / $11

The Pi Hut

Raspberry Pi 4 Case 2.0

There’s no software or speed

control for the fan, and it

ties up the 5 V and GND pins

on the GPIO header

DIMENSIONS:

97.7×69.7×36.3 mm

MATERIAL:

Acrylic

WEIGHT (INC. ONE

RASPBERRY PI 4):

125 g

NUMBER

OF BOARDS

SUPPORTED:

1

COOLING

METHOD:

Fan

SPECS

Verdict

The Pi Hut case

is a cheap option.

Despite including

active cooling, it

fails to outperform

any of the passive

options on test

• bar only the in
  effect uncooled
  Raspberry
  Pi 4 Stand.

4 /10

CPU Temperature CPU Clock CPU Clock (Moving Average)

Frequency

(MHz)

850

1100

1350

1600

Temperature

(Degrees Celsius)

45

55

65

75

85

Time (Seconds)

200 400 600 800

Thermal imaging Thermal load

72 magpi.cc Raspberry Pi thermal case group test

REVIEW